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Driving from one side of Colorado to another requires going over -- well, or through, anyway -- the Continental Divide, where the tunnels on I-70 are at 11,000'+ on both sides. Life here starts at 5000'+.

14.7psi at sea level
12.6psi in your mountain roads
12.2psi around town here on the Front Range
9.7psi at 11,000'

As you can imagine, it leaves normally aspirated engines gasping a bit.

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There's mountains .. and there's mountains.
If you get out west where there's the steep hills PLUS a lack of air, it starts to show up quickly. The altitude impacts both 2.4 and 3.3, just that the 3.3 has enough oomph leftover to get it done pretty nicely.

Oh - I can totally believe that. The Appalachians are definitely not the Rockies! :-D

My daughter lives in Denver, and we've traveled with her and her husband to Vail, Breckenridge, Aspen, etc. We even went up to Independence Pass and Leadville. At that point, I'd want my 4 cylinder turboed, like their CR-V is. That little sucker had only a Turbo1.5L in it, and it still hauled 5 snug adults and luggage around the Rockies. Hats off to Honda on that drivetrain!

Has anyone on here actually used a 2.4L GDI Sorento up in the Rockies by chance?

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When we went to Estes Park and then up into the state park summit, even the V6 lost a noticeable amount of pep, I can't imagine the I-4 at those same altitudes. I'm from the East Coast where "mountains" are 4-5,000 feet, out here those are the foothills

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Yes, and I don't think the road up to Estes, before you head down into the valley, gets higher than 7500. Still, the old 3.3L Santa Fe did pretty well, and I find that with the 6 speed, it's even easier to hold a decent speed, passing a lot of traffic in the passing zones on 36 on the way up.

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To those of us who learned to drive in their father's 3-speed 115 HP Oldsmobile, either Sorento engine is more than adequate. By a long shot.

I chose the V6 for its smoothness, and because I like extra power. But I would only consider it mandatory for serious towing and/or high altitude driving.

In general modern 4-bangers are just as durable as a V6, sometimes even more so do to fewer moving parts. If you really go down the internet rabbit hole you will note that the Hyundai/Kia Theta 2.4 does have some history of bearing failures, and the underlying cause remains a subject of speculation to this day. But I would take that with a grain of salt, given the vast number of these engines in service.

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I'm 65, retired, drive 5K annually, and have the 2017 2.4L GDI. It's great for me. We have another vehicle for trips, but my Sorento has been fine with 200 mile trips. I'd get the V6 if I was still working and driving a lot, but I always liked plenty of power and mpg wasn't the highest priority.

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I have a 2015 V6 Sorento EX with 98K and live in the western NC mountains. Runs great with plenty of power for going up and down our hills/mountains here. Naturally aspirated and no oil consumption. My son has 2018 2.4 Sorento lives in a major metro area. It has turbo, of course. I have ridden in his and it seems to have plenty of pickup. But it is still a 4 and sounds like a 4. The milage is not that much different. Down the road I would like to see a plugin hybrid version of Sorento, although that would probably be the 2.4T plus electric.

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I have a 2015 V6 Sorento EX with 98K and live in the western NC mountains. Runs great with plenty of power for going up and down our hills/mountains here. Naturally aspirated and no oil consumption. My son has 2018 2.4 Sorento lives in a major metro area. It has turbo, of course. I have ridden in his and it seems to have plenty of pickup. But it is still a 4 and sounds like a 4. The milage is not that much different. Down the road I would like to see a plugin hybrid version of Sorento, although that would probably be the 2.4T plus electric.

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Thanks for all replies. All the insight has helped me, and I hope it helps others seeking the same information.
I have been busy lately, as I came across a good deal for a 2018 Sorento Ex with a V6 with under 36k miles . I went with it.

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Another vote for the V6. While the fuel mileage isn't quite as good as the standard 4. this six has an excellent reputation where the 4 has had a worrisome past. Also, at resale it's a more desirable vehicle combination. If you want to tow anything beyond a very light trailer (2,000 lbs max), the six with AWD is a must.

I like the utility of being able to pick up a $29 UHaul trailer, load anything I need from the Home Improvement Big Box Store or anything that might damage/dirty up the interior of my Sorento, and haul anything a homeowner should need.

The six is smooth, extremely quiet at highway speeds, and has been efficient if driven without a heavy right foot. I traded up from a 2016 Mazda CX-5 with the standard 2.5L I4 and love how refined this is. Long drives without engine droning reduces fatigue on trips too.

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Like all engines (large and small), estimate how large of engine one needs. Then, +1 next size up. Thus, always have the extra power under the hood when one needs it. Especially if one loads heavy or tows a few times a year. This works for me. Besides this..... I've yet to see any patterns of folks with V6 engine wishing they bought a smaller size engine. Dizzy Eyes....

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The "professional" reviews, youtube reviews and the like, unanimously have declared that the 2.4L is "underpowered" for the 2016+ Sorento. I know many users have said the 2.4 is good for the Sorento, but that is usually in the context of a pre-2016 model, and they have been changes at 2016 I believe.

Is there a difference in performance for the 2.4 and V6 for these later generations? Specifically, I am looking to buy a lower mileage 2016-2017 model (leaning to AWD because of my work and I might need it in inclimate weather)
And can anyone comment on reliability? I have spoken to a couple former import mechanics, and they also unanimously say to to get the V6. I do mixed driving, and I want to to go to 250K miles.

The "professional" reviews, youtube reviews and the like, unanimously have declared that the 2.4L is "underpowered" for the 2016+ Sorento. I know many users have said the 2.4 is good for the Sorento, but that is usually in the context of a pre-2016 model, and they have been changes at 2016 I believe.

Is there a difference in performance for the 2.4 and V6 for these later generations? Specifically, I am looking to buy a lower mileage 2016-2017 model (leaning to AWD because of my work and I might need it in inclimate weather)
And can anyone comment on reliability? I have spoken to a couple former import mechanics, and they also unanimously say to to get the V6. I do mixed driving, and I want to to go to 250K miles.

Hi Wjgo. So I've driven both and bought a 2020 SX, V6 AWD.
Now, having said that, we went with the V6 since we'll be needing the towing capacity in the future. 5000lb capacity, like once or twice/yr at most.
When I drove the 2.4, during a text drive, I was pleasantly surprised how peppy it was. I took out a 2.4 AWD. It was fine. Sure it'll redline when pushed hard, but it had no problem merging onto the hwy, with a truck quickly approaching. Also it was raining at the time and the AWD worked very well. The car felt very secure. I drive mostly in Sport mode and the car performed well.
The difference in mileage between the V6 and 4cyl isn't that much. Well worth getting the V6, in my opinion, but if you don't need that much towing capacity, and don't have a large family, I'd say you'd be perfectly happy with the 2.4. That 4cyl will always "scream" louder and reach redline faster than the V6, but that's perfectly normal.
Anyway. If you're not a speed demon, and mostly just drive normal, that 4 cylinder is just fine and more fuel efficient. I did not find it underpowered.
The V6 will however, put a big smile on your face when you push it to pass someone, or simply merge onto the hwy 😁

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Recently, I was searching for a 2019 V6 AWD and I found several at Hertz priced in the $17,000-$18,000 range and they were all LX. I intended on buying one of them but they all had minor cosmetic issues and since 4 of my last 5 vehicles had leather seats, I didn't like the cloth seats and I wanted something at least as nice as I was driving. I had about given up until I ran across a like new 2019 EX AWD with 16,000 miles on it 130 miles from me that was priced at clean trade-in. I drove through the mountains to Waynesville, NC (near Asheville) and traded for it (they were shocked that someone would drive 130 miles to trade a Honda for a Kia). I paid the difference between clean trade-in and clean trade-in.

Since I had trouble finding a EX, I did a search of the dealers within 100 miles to me to see what they had in stock. I found that the EX is very rare as are the SX. They great majority are the LX and very few of them has a V6. If you go to a Kia dealership near me, at least 90% of their stock will be the LX with about 1/3 or less of them being AWD.

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